ARGENTINA REGION BY REGION - Argentina - page 148

1940s and 50s. Founded
in 1944 by Belgian architect
Jorge Bunge, Pinamar was
built with a clear vision of
urban development. The
commercial center has a
good handicrafts market.
In the late 1980s, wealthy
porteños wanted a smarter
resort than Pinamar and so
Cariló was founded 4 miles
(6 km) away, a pretty village
of wooden houses and beach-
side bungalows. Sand dunes and pine trees behind the beach in Pinamar

5 Villa Gesell
Road map D3. 62 miles (100 km) NE
of Mar del Plata. * 30,000. ~ @
n Paseo 107 between Aves 2 & 3,
[phone]. _ Patron Saint (Jul),
Beer Festival (Aug). ∑ gesell.gov.ar

beach activities such as quad
biking and surfing.

7 Chapadmalal
Road map C3. 14 miles (23 km) S of
Mar del Plata. * 2,000. @
∑ chapadmalal.org.ar

Environs
Just 6 miles (10 km) south of
Gesell is Faro Querandí , a light-
house built in 1922. At a height
of 180 ft (55 m), with a total of
276 steps, this tower is
still in service. About
17 miles (27 km) south,
Parque Natural Pinar
del Norte has ancient
woodlands and a dune
preserve. The striking
expanse of slopes with
its complex ecosystem
supports diverse grasses
and mammals.

An indigenous name meaning
“between streams,” Chapad-
malal is one of the greenest
resorts on the Atlantic coast.
At the end of the 19th century,
the town was known mainly
for a ranch owned by founder
and first president of the
then recently created Nueva
Sociedad Rural Argentina,
José T. Martínez de Hoz. When
he died in 1888, the ranch
was divided between his two
sons, one of whom built the
Estancia Santa Isabel. Most of
the hotels here were built
when Chapadmalal hosted
some events in the 1955 Pan-
American Games. Golf and
windsurfing are popular
activities here.

The beach resort of Gesell
was only a dream when
Don Carlos Idaho Gesell
bought 7 sq miles
(18 sq km) of sand
dunes on the Atlantic
coast in 1931. Here, he
built a house for his
family, now the Gesell
Museum, and protected
the dunes by planting
several Australian acacia
trees. By the 1950s, it had
become a fledgling tourist resort,
although the town was only
officially founded in 1968.
Now Villa Gesell is filled with
lively restaurants, bars, and
nightclubs. There is a wide
range of hotels, from bed-and-
breakfasts to inns and hospedajes
(lodges). Gesell is popular with
youngsters, as there are plenty of

Portrait of Don
Carlos Gesell

6 Pinamar
Road map D3. 12 miles (20 km) N of
Villa Gesell. * 25,000. £ ~ @ n
Ave Shaw 18, [phone].
∑ pinamar.gov.ar

The resort town of Pinamar is
surrounded by fragrant copses
of pines planted during the

Estancia Santa Isabel
∑ santa-isabel.com.ar

One of the greener beach resorts in Argentina, Chapadmalal

For hotels and restaurants see pp278-83 and pp288-99